Animatic of Storyboard

Kings of Leon - Be Somebody - Animatic

SW & SC Evaluation of Pitch

Sammy and Sarah's pitch for Be Somebody Music Video

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We thought that the pitch was very successful as we thought our ideas were thoroughly thought through and well presented to our class. The presentation helped to demonstrate and explain our narratives that are going to be going on in the music video. We told our class about the 3 narratives that are going to be present in our video. Also, I thought that it was helpful to give our class visuals of the band and the girl used in the music video by showing actual images of them.

Showing the moodboard that we had collaborated of our ideas together then explaining the different techniques that we had picked up from completely our research and showing the class of the types of costumes and props that we are going to use and to visualise them. Also using images with specific lighting techniques that we were interested in helped our class to understand to look that we are trying to achieve.

The video's that we analysed technically and as a product analysis, helped us to explain where we got our inspiration from and the ideas that we have and are trying to recreate for intertextual purposes. The technical analysis really helped explain the certain shots that we are trying to achieve in our music video, especially in the Air Traffic 'Shooting Star' video where the band are performing in an empty room all performing to each other. This is a layout that we want to pursue in our garage scene to suggest togetherness and a close relationship between them.

The powerpoint also helped to explain the ideas that we had from carrying out the audience research. Our main achievement from the carrying out this research focus group, was the ideas that we had for our digipak and it was really great to explain how the focus group helped us achieve this idea for the cover art. We wanted to entwine an image from our music video with the cover art and having the discussion in the audience research allowed us to achieve this.

The powerpoint presentation also helped us to show visually the locations that we are using for our music video and the props that we are using.

Preparing and performing the pitch to our class allowed us to become more detailed and to make more fixed decisions about what we propose to do in our music video and helped us realise the best ways to promote our band in the best way. We found that the deconstruction of current videos was the best way to plan ideas and gain inspiration from because it helped us realise what is successful in the current industry.

SW Visual Ideas

This shot is taken from the 'Mr Brightside' by The Killers music video. This is the girl that was used in the love story and she is very glamorous and innocent looking. Therefore, we have found a girl in our love story who is unique and beautiful.

This shot is from the music video Shooting Star by Air Traffic and I regularly saw how they would do a close-up of the band member playing the instrument then the shot would cut back to a mid shot of the artist with the instrument and i thought that this was very effective and interesting.

This image shows a picture of the band - the Kings of Leon - looking casual and shows them early in their career. This is a similar look to the look that our band are going to be wearing when performing in the garage.

This image shows similar smart clothing that we want our band to be wearing in the performance shots in our music video on the stage to represent their high-status and class from having made it in the music industry.

Kings of Leon

The Kings of Leon are an American Rock Band from Nashville, Tennessee. They formed in 1999 and the band consist of 3 brother's and their cousin. The band have had 4 albums, however their most recent album has had the most success, with popular songs such as 'Sex on Fire', 'Use Somebody' and Manhattan. The first album was heavily influenced by southern/ garage rock, however their style now is alternative rock and they have a unique and edgy look and style with their music.

The song 'Be Somebody' is from the latest album and is a typical song to represent the band as it is edgy, exciting and very well produced musically. The song has a very predominant drum beat throughout the song, therefore the drummer is going to be a key person in the music video.

The video is going to be extremely exciting to make because of the exciting and upbeat track. The music video is going to be finished to a high-class style and will have a fast cutting rate, to keep in time with the music.

SC & SW Audience Research Analysis and Results

From carrying out a Focus Group for our audience research, we were given more ideas from the group that we worked with. We had a group of 15 people (girls and boys from the ages between 16-21, as we thought that this age group is would be a great representative of the target audience for our music video of 15-24) who were all extremely enthusiastic about the prospect of being involved with the research.

We first played the track to our Focus Group and the group all came up with thoughts of narrative ideas, mise-en-scene, locations and characters. Some of the ideas that came up after the song was listened to were:
- love story's
- Images of love letters
- Black and White images
- Performance shots with bright lighting behind therefore creating silhouettes.
- Shots of people smoking
- Performing in a run down area.
- Close-ups of instruments
- People in love
- Letters being ripped up
- Close-ups of tears
- Girl running toward guy
- Many people said how the lyrics and visuals should link e.g band member loosening tie their tie because the lyrics in the first verse are - 'I loosen my tie, I loosen my tie.'
- Fast cutting rate.
- Close-ups of lead singer singing

Everyone then gave there ideas to us and the rest of the group and it was really useful as more ideas were being branched off and becoming more detailed, which we found very useful in a group discussion. All this feedback was very encouraging and creative and really helped us to develop our ideas and fill more shots for our music video. We particularly liked how the focus group were considering lighting as well as props and locations.

We then carried out a brief pitch to the focus group by showing them our ideas that we made on a powerpoint presentation for our class pitch and this helped the Focus Group to really understand the look and ideas that we wanted to carry out (after the focus group, we then added ideas onto our pitch for the class from the feedback that the focus group gave us.) The power point presentation involved showing images of our band members, the locations that we are considering, the props that we were think, costumes and the style that we are trying to achieve. The feedback of our ideas so far was very positive and the group thought that the ideas were unique and original. One issue that we thought would be a problem, being an all female production team, is that our ideas would be too girly and romantic, however from discussing with the focus group (including boys) they thought that our ideas were pretty neutral and interesting, which was really good to hear.

When we explained to our focus group about the narratives that we had thought about in the music video, we explained how we were going to use stills of random unique people in black and white shots throughout the chorus' of the music video wanting to 'Be Somebody'. When it came to discussing digipak ideas, someone came up with the idea of having one of those stills as the digipak cover as it creates some kind of mystery for the consumer, however it gets the message of the some across to the audience. We thought this was a really good idea and are considering pursuing it as an idea.

Overall, the focus group to find out audience research was extremely helpful in developing our ideas and inspiring us to be creative with our music video.

SW & SC Break down of Song

Intro - 00-0.07

Lead singer in Hotel room lying on a bed.

Intro Instrumental - 0.07-0.21

Performance Shots of band in Garage

Verse 1 - 0.21 - 0.36
Taken to the floor
with the reach to the sky
i loosen my tie
i loosen my tie
locking down the door
with the rhythm and rhyme
i loosen my tie
i loosen my tie

First sees girl in hotel. Shots of band in garage performing.

Instrumental - 0.36-0.43

Shots of band in garage performing.

Verse 2 - 0.43 - 1.11
trying to recall
what you want me to say
i shake it your way
i shake it your way
counting on the night
for a beautiful day
i shake it your way
i shake it your way
and i say,you can't get enough
now you can't get enough

Walking through pantiles as a band, being noticed by girls.

Chorus - 1.11 - 1.41
given a chance
i wanna be somebody
if for one dance
i wanna be somebody
open the door
it's gonna make you love me
facing the door
i wanna be somebody

Performance shots in Forum and Black and White images of random people wanting to be somebody. Shots of audience including girl involved in the love story.

Instrumental - 1.41 - 1.54

Performance shots in garage.

Verse 3 - 1.54 - 2.23
Now it's your time
And you know where you stand
With a gun in your hand
With a gun in your hand
Now I'm no longer an ordinary man
Was this your big plan,
Your gun in your hand?
And i say, you can't get enough
Now you can't get enough

Chorus - 2.23 - 2.52
Given a chance
I wanna be somebody
If for one dance
I wanna be somebody
Open the door
It's gonna make you love me
Facing the door
I wanna be somebody

Performance shots in Forum and Black and white images of random people wanting to be somebody. Love-story narrative seeing the girl in the crowd

The bridge - 2.52 - 3.06

Be somebody
Be somebody

Ending - 3.06 - 3.49

SW Music Video Analysis – The Airborne Toxic Event – Sometime Around Midnight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfLM-LwTurQ

Genre and Narrative
The Airborne Toxic Event is labelled as an indie band and I think the music video for Sometime around Midnight reinforces this. Typical characteristics of the indie/rock genre are the band playing instruments, displaying their talent and diversity, therefore a performance-based narrative and indie songs usually have a story being told and therefore the music video can also be narrative based. These characteristics are all present in this music video, as the band are playing on the stage as this love-story is going on at the venue where the band are playing. The link between the lyrics and the visual is very obvious and is therefore an example of illustration. The video could be considered as art as the clips of the band performing are very crisp and professional; however during the video some very grainy images are used in the video. This could also be considered as inherently commercial because there is not many risks being taken for the ideas in the music video as there is no evidence of concept ideas in the video. However I think that it was an obvious decision to use a fully narrative based music video because the song is telling a story.

Media Language
The visual techniques that have been used in the video which are typical of the indie genre are the different panning shots used of the band whilst they are performing on stage. These were very useful shots and made me think about similar techniques that we could use in out music video. The mise-en-scene is very important in the music video and this is shown in the costumes that have been used. For example, the band is dressed in suits and smart clothing, which is the similar type of style that we want are band to have too. The girl used in the music video is also wearing a pretty, grown-up dress which is a costume that we are going to use. The lighting is a key factor in the video for the performance shots as the silhouettes of the band are important and create a glossy feel to the video and it shows professionalism. The lighting used are white lights, which adds class and sophistication to the band and the video.

Representation
The band is being represented as being professional and serious about the music that they produce. This is shown through the costumes that the band are wearing as they are all wearing smart clothing adding to their meta-narrative of being classy and successful. This image challenges to average ‘rocker’ as the band are shown to be clean-cut and proper. The image of the actual band shows a cool, edgy looking band which appeals to many different audiences, which is emphasised in the video and therefore creating a broader audience for the band.

Institution and Audience
The video might be consumed on indie/rock channels such as MTV TWO and VH1. However, because the video is very commercial the video could also be shown on other pop-based channels as well and would appeal to that audience too. I think that the video could be consumed by ambient and focused viewers as it is a very interesting video to watch with the story being told as well, however it could also be a video that could be turned onto and an ambient viewer would enjoy it, half-way through the song. The video could also be appreciated by solo and communal viewers as the song could be played in the background of people chatting, but could also be appreciated by a person on their own. For this promotional text for The Airborne Toxic Event, the record label would make sure the band are represented as well as they can. This would be done by showing regular close-ups of the band to show the bands faces and making sure that they show as many images of the band playing the instruments therefore showing the talent and skill of the band.

SC Music Video Analysis 2

Muse - Feeling good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inW91qRDGwI


Genre and Narrative.
Throughout this music video, there is no strong defined narrative shown, and it is predominantly performance based. However there are shots of people with morphed faces that look confused and upset and as if they want to get out of their surroundings. The band are playing in a red room that is clearly enclosed and towards the end of the music video the morphed people come into the room and start climbing up the walls in order to escape. This links in with the lyrics ‘it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life’ as it is as if they are trying to escape to start something new. This is also reinforced with the fact that there is blossom falling down constantly throughout the video, in every shot, this evokes the idea of spring and new beginning. The video is strongly dominated with the colour red, all of the walls are red and so is the blossom that is falling. This makes the video seem euphoric, strong and powerful, which is also a connotation of their genre of music, Indie-rock. Close ups of the instruments is also a connotation of the genre indie-rock as it shows the passion the artist has in their music, and these are often used in music videos of this genre. Post modern ideas are apparent throughout the video; the people with morphed faces is a challenging idea, and also links with many horror films that have been released, for example ‘I Am Legend’ in which all of the people turn into evil creatures with similar morphed faces, that are trapped in America.

Media Language.
At the beginning of the music video, there is an initial establishing shot of the red room with the lead singer and instruments in, it is a few seconds long and slowly pans around to the right. There is then a shot of the broken window on the ceiling with blossom falling through it which instantly explains where that is coming from to the audience. Throughout the music video there are many mid-shots and close ups of all of the band members playing their instruments, focusing mainly on the lead singer. This shows the passion that they all feel when playing, and the concentration that they have. The 3 band members are all dressed in casual day to day clothes. At one point in the video the lead singer is shown in darkness singing into a megaphone, this implies that the band are shouting out and trying to be heard.

Representation.
The band members are represented as very passionate about their music. This is shown through their appearance and emotion on their faces. The fact that they are simply dressed in casual t-shirt and jeans implies that they are literally only there for the music and don’t care about their appearance or making themselves look ‘cool’, they just want their music to be heard. The people with morphed faces are representing people wanting to escape and break free of their surroundings. This could relate to many of the bands target audience (which is typically 14-25 in the indie rock genre) who are teenagers and who are dealing with pressures of growing up.

Institution and Audience.
I think that this music video would be shown on rock channels such as MTV and VH1, and would mostly be viewed absently as there is no real narrative running through it. However i think it would be used for focussed viewing if the video was being watched by a dedicated fan of Muse.

SW & SC Location Reccie Planning and Evaluation

This image is the Hotel du Vin and is sophisticated and modern inside therefore we thought that it would be an ideal location to shoot the love story between the lead singer and the girl meeting each other and catching each others eye as it is a romantic setting and visually beautiful.

The forum has had some very well established band performing there therefore it is a perfect location for the band to be performing in to show how they have achieved so much and got so far in the music industry.

This is the Graffiti wall in Brighton and we are considering using this location for one of our black and white stills that are going to be shown throughout the video.

This is an image from the pantiles. An alley that we thought would be an interesting shot and interesting to shot through.

This is an image of the pantiles, a wealthy and classy area of Tunbridge Wells which we thought would be a good representation of how far the Kings of Leon have got.